It is the late afternoon of Day 11 of Sunsebb and the adventuring party of Tatania, Aila (carrying the body of Lalie), Armatzi, Sergius, Maeve, Veyda, and Titus find themselves in the aftermath of the battle with the giant toads. The God Toad, a giant spectral amphibian, hovers above the group, lets out a low "ribbit" and disappears. The party finds themselves unsure of what that might portend, but decide to head back to Orlane.
As they make their way down the familiar path through the dark forest, several members sense a dark presence to the north. Feeling weary and bloodied from their harrowing battles (and one party member down), they decide to ignore the looming evil and press on back to town. Everyone feels a collective and oppressive force fall upon them. Their feet feel a little heavier, their minds a little slower. It's unknown if they realize it, but old Vilma knows that a Curse of Misfortune has been placed upon them for ignoring the evil presence they had felt.
Back in Orlane, Aila sets about preparing the body of Lalie for travel back to Veluna. Veda runs off to fetch Colette, the lady's squire, and a ceremony is cast on the body to preserve it to travel home. Aila and Colette wash up, and say their goodbyes to the party as they plan to leave at first light. The journey will be a long and no doubt somber one.
After a good night's rest (and a round of healing spells from their cleric) Veyda, Tatania, Maeve, Sergius, Titus, and Armatzi meet up with their funny friend Myr. They present to him a variety of food and drink that they have collected for him as repayment for guarding some of their treasure. Myr seems most pleased with the spread and immediately tucks in to a rather fancy meal.
The group decide to take a day restocking supplies and relaxing for a day in town. Slowly, they feel themselves unburdened by the Curse of Misfortune. Fortunately, it was somewhat short-lived. This time.
Come the next morning, they recruit Arnd to join back up and head toward the barrow marsh. Once again, they feel a disturbing presence. Instead of fleeing, the party brace themselves for battle. Out of the forest emerge seven coffer corpses. Maeve attempts to injure one with a dart. The dart hits and sticks in the shoulder of one of the corpses, but the undead creature seems to take no damage. It is quickly deduced that these brutes can only be harmed by magical means. While the monsters present a challenge to the party (one manages to grasp Arnd by the neck in its strong grip), there is enough magic present in weapons and Tatania's magic missiles to dispatch all seven with no casualties.
What a thrilling end to the vision witnessed by your faithful storyteller,
Vilma
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